New Appleton Museum Is A Piece Of Art In Itself

October 5, 1986|By Laura Stewart Dishman, Sentinel Art Critic

OCALA — The new Appleton Art Museum is already being called a Taj Mahal, and with good reason.

The $8 million building's white Italian travertine marble walls and columns gleam against the blue Florida sky and green grass. The clean lines of the museum, which was designed by Peter Hepner of The Design Arts Group Inc. of Tampa, are reflected in a terraced pool that stretches before the majestic structure.

The 45,000-square-foot museum is built around a landscaped courtyard, in which a fountain shaped like a medieval quatrefoil plays and bright plantings add color. The entrance is at the top of a broad marble stairway and through a vast glass wall, which reveals the bold diagonal lines of escalators that connect the museum's two levels.

Most of the museum's space -- 30,000 square feet -- is given over to the galleries, which are to the sides and rear of the courtyard on both levels. At the back, on the second level, are administrative offices. Kitchens and other service areas are on the first floor, beneath the offices, and directly below the service areas on a basement level is art storage.

Except for the gently rounded projection that contains the 250-seat auditorium on the east facade, the museum is pleasingly symmetrical.

Its organization is easily understood, so a visitor always has a clear sense of where he is in the building. The subtly textured articulation created by the varied arrangement of marble slabs on the museum's exterior keeps the building from appearing featureless.

The new Appleton Art Museum is a simple, elegant structure that gleams on its site. Its clarity and cool, sleek materials make it more than just an admirably restrained architectural container and backdrop for its art. They make the museum art's equal.